Grievance

Department of Neighborhood Empowerment Grievance Form

Thank you for contacting the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment regarding your Grievance. Your concerns are important to us. Please fill out this form as completely as possible to help expedite our determination. Please be aware that the information you are submitting is subject to the California Public Records Act.

We will NOT be able to respond to your Grievance unless you provide a valid email or mailing address.
Please note that once you click Save at the upper right corner, your Grievance will be submitted.

All witness statements must be attached on this form.

The Department will not process more than three Grievance Forms filed by the same person in any calendar year and no more than five Grievance Forms filed by the same individual in any three year period. All Grievances submitted through this portal are considered processed.

First Name

Luis

Last Name

Sanchez

Please identify your role within the Neighborhood Council system:

Stakeholder

Phone Number

(323) 272-7184

Email Address

luisgsanchez@sbcglobal.net

Mailing Address

4900 La Calandria Way, Los Angeles, California 90032

Neighborhood Council

LA 32

Neighborhood Council Bylaws

Specific Violation Alleged

Failure to indicate the nature of your alleged Grievance will result in the dismissal of your Grievance.

Neighborhood Council Bylaw

Article Number

Section

Los Angeles Administrative Code

Section

28.818, Article 3, 1C 6 d (2)

Plan for the Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils

Section

Board of Neighborhood Commissioners Policy

Please state Policy below

Department Policy

Please state Policy below

* - Any other City code, executive directive, rule or regulation applicable to Neighborhood Councils.

Date of Alleged Violation

06-01-16

A Grievance must be filed within 30 days from the date of the event giving rise to the Grievance. Any Grievance alleging a violation relating to Neighborhood Council funding must be filed within 90 calendar days of the date the expenditure is made.

Please state below

Please specify the exact rule and explain the facts of the alleged violation.

The LA32NC agenda (June 1, 2016) had this item.

12.Grievance regarding Election Spending submitted by Stakeholder Luis Sanchez . The Board must determine (no more than 60 calendar days from 5/12/16), take one of the following actions:
A). Address the issue by either curing or rejecting the Grievance in whole or;
B). Waive consideration and request the Department forward the Grievance directly to the Regional Grievance Panel for consideration. If no action has been taken by the LA32 Neighborhood Council within the time allotted, the Department will forward the Grievance to the Regional Grievance Panel directly.

Mr. Thomas Soong attended and witnessed when this item was addressed.

My understanding is that the board was to choose between option A or option B. My understanding is that if the board decided option A, that due process would follow, as per the bilaws (see Article XI.D).

Article XI Grievance Process (LA32NC Bilaws)

D. The Grievance Procedure below shall be used to challenge formal action of LA-32 NC:
1. Ad-Hoc Grievance Panel - The Board shall randomly select from a volunteer list, two (2) from Stakeholders and two (2) Directors, who have expressed an interest in serving from time-to-time on such a panel, to review the complaint.
2. The Ad-Hoc Panel Meeting-Within two (2) weeks of the Panel�s selection, the Board shall coordinate a time and place for the panel to meet with person(s) submitting a grievance to discuss ways in which the dispute may be resolved. Within two (2) weeks following such a meeting, a member of the panel shall prepare a written recommendation to be submitted to the Recording Secretary of the Board outlining the Panel�s collective recommendations prior to a Board meeting, but, in accordance with the Brown Act, the matter shall not be discussed among Directors until recommendations are heard publicly at the next regular Board meeting. 20 LA-32 Neighborhood Council Approved Bylaws 090115SS
3. Final Meeting - if the Stakeholder filing the grievance is not pleased with the vote of the Board, he or she may file a complaint to the Department for consideration

I found a link on the Empower LA website that indicates that a neighborhood council should address a grievance as outline in its bilaws:
Section 22.818, Article 3 of Chapter 28 of the Los Angeles Administrative Code
Item: 1 C 6 d (2)
(2) Review of Grievance by Neighborhood Council. After receiving a certified Grievance from the Department, a Neighborhood Council must, at its next regular or special meeting, but not more than 60 calendar days from the communication from the Department, take one of the following actions:
(A) Consider the Grievance in accordance with the grievance process outlined in the Neighborhood Council�s bylaws and issue a decision to sustain and cure or reject the Grievance in whole or in part; or
(B) Waive consideration of the Grievance and request the Department to forward the Grievance directly to the Regional Grievance Panel for consideration.

However, the LA32NC immediately voted to reject this grievance, without engaging in due process as outlined in their bilaws (and without seeing any of the evidence that I submitted and attached when I used the empowerla online filing system).

Remedy

There are various remedies available. Please select from the list below the remedy OR remedies you are seeking.
Please be advised that the Department has sole discretion in determining whether your remedy conforms with your Grievance.

From the list below, which remedy or remedies are you seeking?

1) Warning to the Neighborhood Council board, individual board member, or, members.

2) Required corrective action of the Neighborhood Council.

3) Mandated training for the Neighborhood Council, individual board member, or, members.

4) Required mediation for the Neighborhood Council board, individual board member, or, members.

5) Suspension of Neighborhood Council board until mandated trainings are taken by board, board member, or, members.

6) Temporary suspension of Neighborhood Council Funding.

7) Placement of the Neighborhood Council board under control and supervision of the Department.

8) Suspension of individual board member or members.

9) Initiation of de-certification process or process to declare board seats vacant.

Please state why you are seeking the above mentioned remedy or remedies.

#2 The specific corrective action of the NC would be to take the original grievance and conduct due process as outline in the bylaws.

This was one of the first acts of the neighborhood council. However 4 members of the board were one the previous board. 2 board members were on the executive committee. They knew this item was on the agenda and very easily could have consulted the bilaws to take appropriate procedure.

It is very, very concerning to me that an EmpowerLA staff member, Thomas Soong, was sitting there right in front of them, and allowed them to attempt to circumvent their bylaws and administrative code. I sat next to Mr. Soong and requested that he guide the board, and he indicated to me that I could make a 2nd public comment if I wanted.

It is important the EmpowerLA take limit setting action and inform the stakeholders in this NC of the actions this city department will take to correct the fact that this board violated its own bilaws and the City Admin. code under the watchful eye of an EmpowerLA employee.

Otherwise, the board will continue to disenfranchise its own stakeholders.

Witness Information

ALL of your Witness information and Witness Statement needs to be included at this time. The Department will ONLY accept and review Witness information included at time of submission.
You can find the Witness Statement form here.

Witness 1 Contact Information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Phone Number

Witness Statement

Witness 2 Contact Information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Phone Number

Witness Statement

Witness 3 Contact Information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

Phone Number

Witness Statement

If no witness, please check this box

Supporting Documents

Before submitting, please include ALL supporting documentation HERE. The Department will ONLY process and review materials included at time of submission. NOTE: The Department will only review up to 10 pages submitted. Any information submitted past 5 pages will not be taken into account.

Supporting Document

I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing is true and correct.

By checking this box and typing my name below, I am electronically signing this form.

Luis G. Sanchez

To SUBMIT, please click "Save" on top right corner.

NC Determination

Panel Determination

For which table?

Client Performance Report

Quickbase will send a report of the events currently displayed on your calendar.
Email addresses



		Don't show me this message again